Who sits at the head table
You have picked a head table over a sweetheart table. Now one long table has to be filled in a deliberate order, and a few plain conventions make it painless.
The classic arrangement
The couple sits at the center of the table, facing the room, so they are the focal point for toasts. The wedding party fans out to either side, most often with the maid of honor and best man seated closest to the couple.
From there you can group each side of the party together or alternate them down the table. There is no wrong version, so seat the people who will enjoy sitting next to each other.
What to do with partners and dates
This is the real head-table question. A traditional head table seats only the wedding party, which leaves their partners and dates to sit elsewhere. If you go that way, seat the partners together at one nearby table so no one eats alone.
If you would rather keep couples together, use a longer table and seat each attendant beside their own partner. Decide which it is early, because it changes how many seats the table needs.
Where parents and the officiant go
Parents usually do not sit at the head table. They host their own family tables just in front of it, near the couple, with grandparents and close relatives. See the parents guide for how to arrange those tables.
If the officiant stays for the meal, a seat at a family table is the warm choice. Give them a spot near the people they know rather than at the head table.
Set the order on your list
Once you know who sits where, write the order into your guest list and label the table Head Table. Seatwright reads a name as a table label the same as a number, so the head table prints its place cards in the order you set and shows up on the find-your-seat chart with the rest of the room.
Seatwright seats by the table you assign, not by a floor plan it draws, so the head table lands wherever your venue places it while every card still matches.
Related reading
Sweetheart table vs head table
Where the two of you sit sets the tone for the whole room. The choice comes down to a sweetheart table for just the couple or a head table with the wedding party, and each one changes the rest of your seating.
Where do parents sit at a wedding
Parents host, pay, or simply beam from the front, and where they sit says so. Two common arrangements cover almost every family.
Wedding seating chart etiquette
There is no seating police, but a few common conventions make the room flow. Treat these as starting points, not rules you have to follow.
Keep going
Place cards
Place cards sit at the seat itself. Seatwright groups your guests by table and prints one card each, with the meal choice underneath the name if you added one.
Seating chart
One poster by the door lets everyone find their seat at a glance. Seatwright lays out your whole list alphabetically with each guest's table beside the name.
Wedding
The seating took weeks. The paper should take an afternoon. Paste your final list and Seatwright lays out the whole day-of set at once.
Questions
Who sits at the head table at a wedding?
The couple and the wedding party, usually with the maid of honor and best man closest to the couple. Parents and the wedding party's partners are often seated at nearby family tables rather than at the head table itself.
Do the wedding party's partners sit at the head table?
Not on a traditional head table, which seats only the attendants. If you want couples together, use a longer table and seat each partner in, or give the partners their own nearby table so no one is stranded.
What order do people sit in at the head table?
The couple at the center facing the room, then the wedding party out to each side, either grouped by side or alternating. Set that order on your list and Seatwright prints the place cards to match.
Paste your list, see it laid out
When the plan is done, Seatwright turns your guest list into the whole day-of paper set in one pass.
Start freeFree to preview. One payment per event to print.